Survival Basics

Survival is one of the three game modes in Zombies. This was originally the only game mode available, but now it's available as a secondary option on all maps.

One player and up to three other friends fight hordes of zombies on each map. There is no set wave to finish Survival, just play until everyone dies. The number of zombies will increase each round. The amount of players that are in the game will also affect the amount of Zombies or any other Creatures. Every zombie game starts each player off with 500 points and the M1911 Handgun. A quick tip. At the start of every game, for round one, it is recommended that you knife the starter zombies. Ammo can be conserved, and you can get a large amount of points to start saving for barricades and more expensive weapons. Round one zombies are a one knife kill.

If a player is hit twice by a Zombie or any other creature, five from a zombie or six from a hellhound with Jugger-Nog, he will be knocked down. When down the player will lose any perk that have been purchased. The player will drop down to a sitting pose with a pistol. Whatever handgun you have will work(i.e. Raygun, Five-Seven). Downed players can be revived by any of the other teammates in the game. The team has 30 seconds to reach the downed player before he dies. If a player dies he will be out of the game until the next round begins. When the player comes back to life he will only have the M1911 again. No former weapons or perks. However, if the player is revived instead of dying, he will have the weapons before he was downed, but all Perks will still be lost.

Use the points to open doors or clear debris to progress further through the maps. Points are also used to buy weapons off walls, buy weapons from the Mystery Box, activate traps, upgrade your weapons through the Pack-A-Punch machine, and buy Perks from the Perk-A-Cola machines.

As mentioned earlier, players can buy doors or clear debris for 750-3000 Points. Opening doors and clearing debris is necessary to reach other areas of the map where various weapons and perks are located.

There are also barriers on select maps that keep Zombies on the outside of the map. The zombies will take down these barriers by ripping each board or concrete piece off, then climbing through. The barriers are usually noticeable by a hole somewhere and wooden planks covering the hole. Sometimes zombies will break through regular walls which are not noticeable barriers. Players are awarded 10 points for each plank (six planks per barrier) you rebuild. However, there is a limit to the number of points awarded to a player for rebuilding barriers within the timespan of a single wave.

Survival is definitely tough if zombies are constantly interrupting you before you can buy a Perk-A-Cola or upgrade a weapon at the Pack-A-Punch Machine. This is where "Crawlers" come in. Crawlers is a term invented by the Call of Duty zombie community and given to zombies whose legs have been blown off. Use an explosive weapon or piece of equipment (with the exception of the Cymbal Monkey) to blow off the legs of an average zombie, creating a crawler. Most crawlers move much slower than regular zombies. With one or two slow crawlers left on the map, players will have enough time to spend their points on the necessities. Make note: Sometimes a crawler may die completely on its own. If this happens, a new zombie will spawn somewhere on the map. Try to make the new zombie a crawler to gain more time.

In the Tranzit version of Zombies, Crawlers will die if you leave them in what ever area they're in, and run through the fog for any short distance. This does not happen to running zombies however, so it is wise to leave a one runner alive, or have a teammate hold a crawler in an area while the other players do what they need to.

A common tactic in Zombie games is to have a group of zombies following one player. The player will run around an area on the map to compact them together or form a sort of train. When ready, the player will turn around and shoot all of them in their heads. The head is the most vulnerable spot, and firing in a crowd will harm more with less ammo.